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My January Book List

With all the cold weather and snow we've been having, I had the perfect excuse to spend most of January holed up at home reading! I read quite a few books this month and have been making a concerted effort to branch out from my usual genres and authors. I can't say I loved every book I read this month but it did broaden my outlook a little and I think that's always a good thing.

1. Past Perfect by Danielle Steel-- When Blake and Sybil move their family from New York City to San Francisco and into an old abandoned mansion they have no idea how much their lives are about to change. Within a week of living in their new home they stumble onto an entire family eating dinner in their dining room. The family that owned the house over 100 years ago is back in ghost form and as the two families sit down to dine together their lives become forever entwined as friends. This was quite an unusual story for a Danielle Steel and while I did enjoy it the time warp/ parallel lives aspect was a bit confusing at times and quite far- fetched.

2. The Little Book of Hygge; Danish Secrets to Happy Living--I hate winter and being cold so I really could not wait to read this book about how to be happy; even when cold. I had been reading a lot about Hygge and I read this book in a day! It had some great suggestions but I'm not so sure that I could ever really carry it off.

3.What Remains True: A Novel -- A heartbreaking story told from all sides in a family where their 5 year old son died. Each of the family members blames themselves and it isn't until they begin going to family counseling that the whole story comes out. This was probably my favorite book of the month!

4. The Year We Turned Forty by Liz Fenton & Lisa Steinke -- When three friends get the chance at their 50th birthday celebration to go back in time to the year they turned 40 and make their life choices over again they agree to head back and try to re-do the last 10 years of their lives. This is a book I picked based on it's title and I wasn't so keen on the time travel aspect. I'm not so sure I would have bought it if I had realized it ahead of time but it did make for an enjoyable story; if (again) quite far- fetched.

5. Secret Lives by Diane Chamberlain -- When actress Eden Riley returns to her mother's childhood home to research her mother's life in the hopes of making a movie about her she has no idea the secrets she is about to uncover. Eden's mother was a reclusive writer who died when Eden was quite young. Eden's uncle Kyle and his wife Louise helped raise Eden after her mother's death and have saved all the journals her mother wrote from the time she was 13. I actually thought this was a pretty good book but quite predictable at times.

6. Change of Heart by Jodi Picoult-- Shay Bourne, a death row inmate, decides he wants to donate his heart to the sister of his victim once he dies. Strange and miraculous things start happening and both a nearby priest and the lawyer who start to champion for him begin to doubt his guilt. There is some talk about Shay possibly being the body of Christ when he seems to know things beyond what is considered normal.

7. First Comes Love by Emily Griffin-- Sisters Josie and Meredith have always had a tenuous relationship at best but when tragedy strikes in their family the sisters often find themselves at odds with one another. 15 years later both sisters are struggling with their life choices and find that they not only have to confront one another but ultimately must decide to put love first.

8. Navigating Early by Clare Venderpool-- When Jack's mom dies he finds himself at an all boys boarding school on the Maine coast; a far cry from Kansas. His father is in the navy and the boarding school is close to where he is stationed. Once at school Jack finds himself making friends with the most unlikely boy there. Early has lost both his parents and only attends classes when he feels like it. When the two boys set off on the Appalachian trail during a school break in search of a great bear they have no idea the adventures that will await them. I kept thinking this book was sort of like Huck Finn meets Catcher in the Rye and while I did enjoy it; it took me weeks to even get half- way through it at which point I decided my time was better spent reading something else.

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